Pleasant Hill police find body in home of accused 78-year-old bank robber Bonnie Gooch
By Connor Hills
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PLEASANT HILL, Missouri (KMBC) — The Pleasant Hill Police Department says a body has been discovered in the home of accused 78-year-old bank robber Bonnie Gooch.
Law enforcement has not formally identified the deceased female body they discovered, but foul play is not suspected.
A warrant was issued for Gooch after she did not appear in a Cass County court as expected this week.
On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, around 2:00 p.m., officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant in the 1500 Block of Eagle Drive in Pleasant Hill when they located the body in a rear bedroom.
The scene was processed, and the body was taken by Frontier Forensics for further examination.
Gooch was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, but court records updated on Tuesday state she did not show up, and her counsel did.
Gooch was charged in April with one count of stealing or attempting to steal from a financial institution after allegedly holding up a bank in Pleasant Hill, Mo.
Court documents claim Gooch provided a note requesting 13,000 “small bills” and wrote, “Thank you, sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She also smelled of alcohol, court documents state.
Gooch was previously convicted of robbing a bank in California in 1977.
She was also convicted of robbing a bank in Lee’s Summit in 2020. Her probation ended in Nov. 2021.
The investigation remains ongoing as the formal identification of the deceased remains pending. Updates will be provided as Pleasant Hill police make them available.
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